Manja Ebert: Owe me everything

Our present day impressively demonstrates how social media shapes our perception of the world around us - whether in terms of elections, knowledge or opinion-making. In her solo exhibition, media artist Manja Ebert shows expansive installations in which the mechanisms behind the technology are revealed.

In der Ausstellung "Owe me everything" wird digitale Kunst gezeigt

Sharing and consuming personal content has become an integral part of our everyday lives. We share photos on Instagram, take part in challenges on TikTok and read news on X. At the same time, there are technological processes behind every online interaction: Data, for example, is both collected and instrumentalized with the help of algorithms and AI in order to guide our behaviour.

In her works, artist Manja Ebert explores these hidden mechanisms and exposes them. Her sculptural media installations deal with current technologies and social platforms on the internet, which she artistically analyzes and transforms into interactive work experiences. Her work focuses on self-generation through digital technologies and the playful fusion of surveillance techniques and communication media used by various platforms for further data collection. In her artistic practice, Ebert often uses found footage to visualize the interconnections between online and offline worlds.

Her works critically analyze the structures of social networks and the invisible processes that control our behavior online - from algorithms to artificial intelligence. She reveals how data is collected, instrumentalized and used to guide our actions. “As viewers, we become the testing ground for facial tracking. We are drawn into the audiovisual data flood of social platforms while we venture a voyeuristic look into the bedrooms of others.” Peggy Schoenegge The exhibition opens up a space of experience in which visitors are confronted with the hidden mechanisms of modern technologies and social platforms.

The artist makes these processes tangible and poses questions about privacy, platform capitalism, surveillance and data usage. The focus is on examining the influence of digital media on the social order and the self-image of users. “Owe me everything” shows the complex network of relationships between consumption, production and data collection in social networks. Ebert's works reflect on how global tech giants such as Google and Meta profit from the everyday interactions of users and conduct omnipresent surveillance in the process. At the same time, the artist questions how the interplay of self-expression, technology and surveillance affects our psychological and social lives. In this discourse, the question of the role of the user arises in particular.

The vernissage will take place on 29.11.24 from 7 pm.

Runtime: Sat, 30/11/2024 to Sun, 02/02/2025

Admission: free

Opening hours: Sunday to Wednesday 12:00 to 19:00, Thursday to Saturday 12:00 to 20:00

Takes place here:

• Alte Feuerwache - Projektraum